NBC is making push to get Thursday Night Football package

The NFL is reportedly interested in having another channel broadcast Thursday night games along with the games that are already been shown on the NFL Network. Word on the street is that NBC has the upper hand in a low key bidding war for the rights.

ESPN, CBS, FOX and Turner Sports have also showed interest in getting the rights for this package as well. According to Adweek, the NFL is looking for a payout in the range of $750 million and $800 million for the package.

Sources said the NFL was hoping to scare up between $750 million and $800 million for the slate, although plans to simulcast a number of the games on NFL Net are likely to drive the price down. (The addition of five TNF telecasts allowed the network to boost its affiliate fee to $1.34 per sub per month, making it the second priciest channel on the dial. Removing games would violate the terms of NFL Net’s carriage agreements.)

This would be very good for the NFL because their Thursday night games are their lowest rated games mainly due to people not having NFL Network. Putting Thursday night football on basic cable would really help the ratings go up in a major way.